In preparation for building the Tabernacle, God commanded Moses
to collect the necessary materials:

“Speak to the Israelites and have them take for
Me an offering. From every person whose heart
inspires him to donate, you shall take My
offering.” (Ex. 25:2)

Why did God command Moses to take the donations?
The verse should read that they must give an offering!

The language of “taking” might lead one to conclude
that the materials could have been taken from
the people by force. But this was not
the case, for the Torah stresses that the
offerings were donated freely — “from every person
whose heart inspires him to donate.”

Why, in fact, did this collection need to be
voluntary? The Talmud in BabaBatra 8b teaches
that a community may force members of
the community to support the poor and the
needy. Using our money to help others is
a trait that needs to be trained and
developed. So why did God command that these
gifts for the Tabernacle, the first act of tzedakah
(charity) on a national level, be donated solely out
of sincere generosity?

Two Goals of Tzedakah

The mitzvah of tzedakah is meant to accomplish two
objectives. The first concerns
the person receiving the charity. Through this mitzvah,
the poor are provided with what they lack.
The second objective concerns the one giving. By
donating our time and money, we express our
inner qualities of chessed and kindness in a concrete and tangible manner. The
act of tzedakah actualizes our traits of generosity and contributes toward our
own spiritual growth.

We can distinguish between these two objectives within the
act itself. The first goal stresses the aspect
of giving to the needy. The important factor here is that
the poor person receives the assistance he needs.
The second goal, on the other hand, stresses
the aspect of taking from the benefactor. This is a special benefit of
the mitzvah of tzedakah: by relinquishing our material possessions for the sake
of others, we refine our character traits and
elevate the soul.

Which of these two goals is the principal objective
of tzedakah?

ג ד

The Gimmel’s Chase

The Sages in Shabbat 104a noted that the Hebrew
letter Gimmel appears to be facing the next letter in the
alphabet, the Dalet, with its left ‘leg’ stretched
out toward the Dalet. Why is the Gimmel running toward
the Dalet?

The Sages explained that the Gimmel is the benefactor (from the
word gommeil, meaning one who gives or supports).
The Gimmel is chasing after the impoverished Dalet (from the
word dal, meaning ‘poor’ or ‘needy’) in order to help
him.

Why is the benefactor running after the poor? Should
it not be the other way around?

The Sages wanted to teach us that the principal
aim of tzedakah is connected to the very foundations of the universe.
The true goal of tzedakah is to elevate the soul of the giver. After
all, if the purpose was to help the
poor, God could have provided other means for
their support without having to rely on the
generosity of society. The shapes of the Hebrew
letters — letters which God used to create the
universe — hint at this fundamental truth. The Gimmels, the benefactors,
need to pursue the Dalets, the poor, in order to grow and develop
spiritually.

Thus the Jewish people’s very first philanthropic project emphasized that
the central aspect of tzedakah is not giving to the needy, but taking from
the donor. “Have them take for Me an offering.” God commanded
that the contributions
to the Tabernacle be given freely — “every person whose heart
inspires him to donate” — since the soul and its traits are only
refined when one donates willingly.